CoP: Police recruitment on hold

THE Police Service has put a freeze on accepting new recruits until there is a better procedure for their training, said Commissioner of Police Trevor Paul. He was giving evidence yesterday at the Red House to a Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Parliament chaired by Prof Ramesh Deosaran which monitors our public statutory authorities including the Police Service Commission (PSC). Paul said police recruitment was currently put on hold. “We have done so because we want to ensure our next batch of trainees are treated differently in terms of selection and training.” He wanted a change in how recruits were selected, how they were trained, and in the environment in which they were trained.

Saying that the next set of trainees would be treated differently to past recruits, Paul said: “We are looking to introduce into the process a measure of psychometric testing which will guide us as to the type individual we are looking to enlist into the police service.” “We would be embarking upon a more stringent background investigation of applicants, and at the same time we will be appealing to members of the public to be more responsible when we ask questions about the people we are looking at.” While he thought the recruitment process did select the best of the available applicants, he lamented that the best young people were not coming forward to become police officers.

Parents of children attending St Mary’s College and St Joseph Convent, he said, had no intention for their children to become police officers. When Prof Deosaran asked if he felt he needed more powers in order to be effective, Paul said no. “Since July, when I took up office, you would not have heard any blame being put on the Police Service Commission for shortcomings we may be experiencing in the Police Service. I cannot honestly say that I have insufficient powers and that is what may account for any inefficiency or ineffectiveness in the Police Service.”   He said he met the PSC each month, and felt certain that he could call up PSC chairman Christopher Thomas at any time to address any problem arising. “So the Police Service Commission would not be seen as standing in the way of progress. “We are working together to see how we can best deal with things as recruitment, promotion and discipline,”